When Did That Happen?
by HowardSqueakers
Summary: kind of a sequel to What Happened? Gibbs made a vow to become more social and this is him noticing the changes in his life


I cheered McGee on – along with Tony, Ziva, Abby, and Ducky – as he sang some song that I had never heard before by a band I had never heard of.

_When did I start coming to the bar after work with everyone?_

Abby nudged my arm as our little elf lord finished and left the stage.

"So, when are you gonna grace us with a song? You've been coming for a couple weeks now. I think it's time for you to get the full experience."

I smiled. "After I get the plague…then I'll sing."

That was the first time in a long while that I was head slapped.

"Don't say stuff like that, Gibbs. Tony almost died from that."

I kissed her cheek. "Sorry, Abs. Won't happen again."

"Oh, you know it will. Don't lie."

I grabbed her wrist before she could head slap me again. I put her hand on the table and placed mine over it to keep it there. To my surprise, she didn't pull away.

"I came tonight," I told her when she asked about singing again, "that should be enough."

She smiled her usual smile – maybe a little bigger – "Don't worry. I'll get you to sing at some point."

I rolled my eyes. "What are you gonna do? Attack me with the plague yourself?"

"If necessary."

Instead of cringing slightly at her threat – like I usually would – I smiled.

_When had that happened?_

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"Okay, Bossman, this is how Major Mass Spec works."

That was all I caught and understood before Abby went on a tangent about ions and whatever other scientific do-hickeys that were involved. I laughed to myself as she gestured wildly and kept talking.

I may have been spending more time down in Abby's lab on slow days but it wasn't to "learn about forensics" or whatever she was trying to teach me. It was just to spend more time with her.

You see, ever since I made that vow to become more social, I had been spending more time in Abby's lab on slow days. I mean, I can only watch my team do paperwork for cold cases for so long before escaping for coffee wasn't going to help me keep my sanity. But learning about science was not on my to-do list.

Getting the woman I fell in love with nearly ten years ago, however, was.

"Gibbs!" Abby said, stopping midsentence. "Are you even listening to me?"

"Uhh…no. Not really, Abs. Sorry."

She sighed. "I knew you were lying when you started asking how Major Mass Spec worked."

I smirked. "Why would I lie to you, Abs?"

"You wanted to make me feel smart by letting me teach you something?"

"Abby, you're already one of the smartest people I know. You don't need me to make you feel smart."

"Fine. Was it because you wanted to give me some company on a slow day?"

I suddenly felt like an inexperienced teenager on his first date. Only three women in my life could make me feel like that and, sadly, two of them were no longer in my life.

"Uh…yeah…it's just that the team is upstairs doing paperwork and I just…uh…"

Abby kissed me on the cheek before I could finish my awkward babble. _Seriously? Babbling…the last time I couldn't form a sentence in front of a woman was right after I was with Jenny for the first time…I need coffee._

"Gibbs! That is so sweet!"

And then she hugged me. Very tightly.

Just before I confessed what I knew what was going to come out later, my cell rang and called me upstairs to get the team out for another case.

As soon as the elevator doors closed, I headslapped myself.

_When had I fallen in love with Abby?_

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Tony was all smiles and nearly jumping out of his skin as he led us down to his wife's hospital room.

"Tony, I know you're excited about your little girl being born but I can only go so fast in these boots."

My senior field agent laughed, spun around on his heel and started walking backwards. "Abby! Come on! You walk around your lab all the time without shoes on!" He stopped walking, smile still plastered to his face. "Please. I'm just really excited about C.J. You can take your shoes off once we get to the room."

"Fine," Abby laughed. "How can I say no to that cute, little face?"

Tony jumped again and nearly started running again. Thankfully, he settled for a quick walk.

When we got into the room, I noticed a change in my senior field agent. He wasn't the same womanizing goofball I had met seven years ago. He had transformed into a loving husband and was beginning to show the makings of an amazing father.

"Everybody, Zi and I would like to introduce you to Caitlyn Jennifer DiNozzo, or C.J. And we would like to ask you guys something."

Ziva cooed at the little girl in her arms. She looked at the rest of us with a huge smile on her face.

"Will you be C.J.'s honorary family? Our families pretty much disowned us years ago."

We all agreed immediately. Then, Abby had to think out loud, which is sometimes not the best thing.

"Okay, I get that McGee is gonna be known to C.J. as Uncle Timmy and Ducky's gonna be grandpa but I'm a little confused at what I'm supposed to go by. Gibbs is old enough to be a grandpa – no offense, honey, but you are – but, since he and I are together, what do _we_ go by? Grandma Abby or Uncle Gibbs?"

Ziva laughed. "Only you, Abby, would think of something like that."

She shrugged. "It seems like a reasonable question."

"Well," Tony said, sitting on the side of his wife's bed and putting his arm around her, "you guys can go home and discuss it, and go by whatever you agree on. Hell, you can just go by Abby and Jethro if you want."

We stayed with the new family until visiting hours were over. Then, Abby and I went back to our house.

Abby had moved in with me about a month before and everyone who visited could see the touch of her that was around the whole house. And it wasn't just the make-up in the bathroom, her car in the driveway, or her clothes in the closet. Her presence was everywhere in the house – except for the basement and Kelly's room, I couldn't bring myself to change her room just yet.

"So, what do you want the little Tiva baby to call you, Leroy?"

"Abs," I chuckled, "do you really have to call me Leroy?"

She nodded. "We've been over this before. Jethro was my dog. Yes, he was named after you but I don't want to confuse him by calling you Jethro too whenever he and McGee get into a fight. Now, back to my question. Uncle Jethro? Or Grandma Abby?"

I didn't answer my girl right away. One, because I couldn't think of the answer. And two, because I couldn't believe that she hadn't changed her mind about being with me yet.

_When did I decide to make Abby Mrs. Gibbs number five? Well…if she agrees obviously._

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A few years have passed since I made that decision to get married again. Abby agreed – which kinda surprised me, I never pegged Abby for someone who would get married – and life continues normally. C.J. is the cutest little girl ever and is about to start pre-school. _When did she grow up?_

One day at work, though, something strange happened. Abby wasn't acting like herself and none of us could figure out why. Tony and I had tried everything we could think of to figure out what was wrong with our girl, but nothing worked until Ziva went down to her lab to talk to her. After that she seemed better.

Later that night, on the way home from work, Abby finally gave me a clue about what was going on with her.

"So, do you remember that question I asked when C.J. was born?"

"About me being called Uncle Gibbs or you being Grandma Abby?"

She nodded. "I think I found an answer."

"Who's being called what?"

"How about you being called "Dad" in about three years? When our baby learns to talk."

I parked in the driveway and just sat there dumbfounded. "Really?"

She smiled and nodded. "Remember when I went to the doctor a week ago? Well, she did a blood test and the results came in today. She confirmed what I've suspected for a couple weeks."

I couldn't help but smile at my wife as we went into the house for the night and started making dinner together. I couldn't believe that I was going to be a father again.

That night, after Abby had gone to sleep, I just laid there, watching her dream. I still couldn't believe that she and I were gonna be parents.

The last thought I had before I fell asleep was_ when did I become the luckiest man alive?_


End file.
